"We don't make anybody get naked. That's a no-no," noted Estrada, who said he performs about one cleansing per week. "Nobody gets naked to do any kind of cleansing, whether it's with meat or with a bird or whatever. Nobody gets naked."

The use of raw meat to cleanse an individual -- be it steak, chicken or pork -- is not unusual in Santeria, but the priest shouldn't press it against another person's body. Instead, he or she instructs the person how to rub it on themselves, over their clothes, Estrada said.

Oh, good. I was starting to think the whole thing sounded crazy. Glad you cleared that up.

/ everybody knows the only way to truly cleanse the soul is to throw magic tap water on a baby...

skozlaw:"We don't make anybody get naked. That's a no-no," noted Estrada, who said he performs about one cleansing per week. "Nobody gets naked to do any kind of cleansing, whether it's with meat or with a bird or whatever. Nobody gets naked."

The use of raw meat to cleanse an individual -- be it steak, chicken or pork -- is not unusual in Santeria, but the priest shouldn't press it against another person's body. Instead, he or she instructs the person how to rub it on themselves, over their clothes, Estrada said.

Oh, good. I was starting to think the whole thing sounded crazy. Glad you cleared that up.

/ everybody knows the only way to truly cleanse the soul is to throw magic tap water on a baby...

But you start asking questions like "By what mechanism does the meat cleanse the soul?" and "How do you measure the effectiveness of the cleansing?" and suddenly you're the crazy one.

On Feb. 24, Paulino performed the ritual on the teen, the complaint alleges. He told her to stand in a bathtub, cut off her clothes and underwear, and rubbed the meat on her "intimate parts," the complaint alleges.Paulino also kissed and touched her in a sexual nature, the complaint alleges.

Paulino said any perceived sexual contact that took place was accidental.

No no no. A Sangria ritual you start with some fruit: peaches, grapes, what have you, some red (or white) wine, some club soda, a shot of brandy. A pitcher or two of these and your on your way. It's a summer ritual.

Ad Hominem:An attack upon an opponent in order to discredit their argument or opinion. Ad hominems are used by immature and/or unintelligent people because they are unable to counter their opponent using logic and intelligence.

/did not make this up, it's actually part of the definition on that site

There was a little geek wad basement who used to run in our circle of friends (we had to eject him from our group because he was so unhinged)

He had this crush on this mousy glasses wearing Portuguese girl who was engaged to a Portuguese guy. They all went to the same Catholic Church.

He thought she was a virgin even though she and her fiancé slept in the same bed. But she didn't talk about her private life to him so of course she had to be a virgin.

He camped outside her house all day wanting to give her a birthday card. Didn't have the guts to knock on her door or leave it in her mailbox.

Finally he thought the best way to get her interested in him was to go to a Santeria priestess and have her perform rituals against their relationship. He paid her $85 a session. He burnt curse candles at home (we saw them)

She had him make a honey concoction that he put seven coins in, seven strands of his hair, seven strands of his blood, etc. That he was to taste every day for 7 days then bury it in his back yard.

He made a white vinegar bowl with chicken feathers and the finances name on it.

He slept with a black salt bag under his pillow.

He had a Jesus ring that he took off every time he masturbated because I guess, a promise.

Why do I know this? He told us matter of factly like it was normal.

His ultimate goal was to have her move into his mom's house where she would quit her job and have a house full of babies. I guess his parents would just have to put up with it. He didn't really think it through because as I saw, he was nuts.

Needless to say, it didn't work. She married her fiancé and went on to get a promotion. She cut off contact.

I actually think that he was so below her radar and that was the only reason why her fiancé did not beat the ever loving piss out of him. Being Portuguese they DONt take kindly to curse candles being burnt against them.

I DID tell him that if he ever tried to do that against me or mine that I would beat the ever loving piss out of him.

From the Urban Dictionaryhttp://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ad%20hominem

Ad Hominem:An attack upon an opponent in order to discredit their argument or opinion. Ad hominems are used by immature and/or unintelligent people because they are unable to counter their opponent using logic and intelligence.

/did not make this up, it's actually part of the definition on that site

Danger Mouse:Attention Whore of Babylon: I think someone misheard. Cutting off clothes and rubbing with raw steak is the Sangria ritual.

No no no. A Sangria ritual you start with some fruit: peaches, grapes, what have you, some red (or white) wine, some club soda, a shot of brandy. A pitcher or two of these and your on your way. It's a summer ritual.

A long time ago I went through a weekend Sangria ritual up in Wisconsin, when it was cool to drink it from a bota. By Sunday morning, everything coming out of me, seem to have a distinctly purplish hue. Well, not everything, but, one particular thing. These were the days, in my life, when too much, was just barely enough. Didn't touch Sangria for decades afterwards.

I'm an atheist, but, this meat ritual fascinates me. I think I could get into a priesthood, were, if we put limit on the age and sex of the flock: female and like 18 and up, with the top end to be determined, on a case by case basis, I've got the meat and would be willing to do the cleansing. It would be a sort of a Rasputin thing, where, "To be forgiven, one must first sin. So take your clothes off, sweetheart, because you're going to get cleansed. You're going to get cleansed, real good."

Danger Mouse:Attention Whore of Babylon: I think someone misheard. Cutting off clothes and rubbing with raw steak is the Sangria ritual.

No no no. A Sangria ritual you start with some fruit: peaches, grapes, what have you, some red (or white) wine, some club soda, a shot of brandy. A pitcher or two of these and your on your way. It's a summer ritual.

...And THEN the cutting off clothes and rubbing with the raw steak. You have to complete the ritual, or it doesn't count.

For starters, cleansings are supposed to be gender-matched. That is, only male priests should perform spiritual cleansings of men or boys and only female priests should perform spiritual cleansings of women or girls, Estrada said.

Oh, only male priests can handle the boys? THAT will sure prevent abuses.